PITTSBURG, Kan. — Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas recently welcomed Sandra Cobos as the newest member of its board of directors.
Cobos, representing Crawford County, joins 13 other CHC/SEK board members who serve as the link between their communities and the health center. By design, health center boards are consumer-led, meaning most of its members use the health center as their primary source of care. The intention is to ensure that health centers are aware and responsive to the needs of their patients and communities.
However, Cobos is not new to CHC/SEK. As a graduate student, she worked as a patient account representative and fell in love with the organization.
"It's a pinch-me moment," she said. "To come back now to serve on the board and represent the community is just such an honor."
Cobos is an assistant instructional professor of psychology and counseling at Pittsburg State University and the school psychology program director. She has multiple degrees, including a master's degree and an educational specialist degree, both from Pitt State.
Cobos worked for six years as a school psychologist in Carthage, Missouri, in Leavenworth, Kansas, and at the Southeast Kansas Interlocal in Cherokee and Pittsburg, before joining the faculty at PSU. In the fall, she starts work on her doctorate in psychology.
Named after the three degrees she has earned, she also owns a boutique called 3 Degrees Limited that sells "style-driven workwear for modern women." The story behind the storefront goes beyond her degrees. An immigrant from Mexico, Cobos was the first in her family to go to college. After becoming a single mom as a student, she went on to earn three degrees from PSU. Through the store, she gives back to women and children in need by donating a portion of the store's profits.
"I had a lot of help from a lot of people," Cobos says. "I remember what it was like going through it and knowing I wouldn't have been able to do it alone. Having made it here, my mission is just to give back. I want to let people know their circumstances don't define them."
